Stubborn Love
by Notaboutyou
Summary: AU Brittana: Divergent Crossover. No knowledge about Divergent books needed to enjoy the fic! Santana and Brittany are in different factions. Santana is born an Erudite and Brittany a Dauntless member. Santana is faced with the most important choice of her life. Will she choose for her family and stay in Erudite or will she jump factions to Dauntless?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey again. New fic again, I know. I should really finish what I started. I will finish Love Lockdown but I have to take a small hiatus from writing it for personal reasons. I swear, I will finish it someday. But now this new fic. It's a crossover between Brittana and the Divergent trilogy. For those of you who haven't heard of Divergent, it's a trilogy written by Veronica Roth. The first movie will be in theaters in March. The books are actually quite amazing and everyone should read it. You can watch the trailer if you want to. I would post a link but fanfiction is a little bitch and they don't allow that for one reason or another. **

**When I read the first book of Divergent, all I could think about is how much I would like to see a Brittana version of this and well, there wasn't, so here it goes. This first chapter is kind of explaining the world of Divergent, which can seem quite complicated at times. For real fans of the books, there might be some mistakes. I have read the books twice, but I still don't quite know the world like I would know the Harry Potter world. For people that have read the books, all this happens before Jeanine Matthews. :) **

**So I hope you enjoy and please let me know if you would be interested in reading the rest of the story. :) You can also find me on my tumblr eatingsushieveryday. I will post some previews there sometimes so you can follow me there or just come talk to me. **

**Ok enjoy :) **

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The sound of my alarm clock woke me up from a sound sleep. I sighed deeply and tried to shut out the buzzing clock by pressing my face further into my pillow, but it didn't seem to help. I rolled out of bed while pressing the big red button on my alarm clock in order to silence it. I sat at the edge of my bed and flicked on the light switch. My eyes squinted due to the sudden brightness, but after a couple of seconds they quickly adjusted to the glaring light emanating from bulb above my head. My eyes shifted across the room. The first thing you would notice if you entered my bedroom was the sheer amount of books it held. There were stacks of books that reached the ceiling, filling the room. I had exactly four bookcases, all which held around fifty books. In my room alone I had around two hundred books, but I guess that was quite normal in this faction. Of course I had read all these books. Science, history, literature... I had pretty much read it all. Knowledge led to prosperity. Knowledge was power, and ignorance was to blame for the world's problems. That was how I saw it. That was how we were all supposed to see it in Erudite. That was what was taught here in this faction. But I believed it too. Plus, I really did like reading and learning new things. My dad always told me that a day wasn't a success unless you had learned something new, so that was what I tried to do. Even though I liked a lot of subjects; science books were still my favorite. Chemistry, biology, psychology, sociology, physics... I loved them all. But when you were in the faction Erudite, you learned about so much more.

Our world was divided into factions, five to be exact. Amity, Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless and Erudite, the faction my family was a part of. Erudite was only faction I truly believed I could fit in. I was Santana Lopez, sixteen years old, and I lived in Erudite. That was who I was, who I was supposed to be.

The factions were formed at the beginning of the great peace. The system persisted because everyone feared what might have happened if it didn't… war. Because of the different factions, everyone fit in perfectly with his or her own faction and had a purpose and a family. I couldn't imagine a world without the factions and I was sure I didn't want to know what kind of world that would be.

Factions had their own specialties, leaders and jobs. Erudite was known for knowledge. We believed that knowledge led to prosperity and we did everything to gain as much knowledge as we could. I looked up above my bed. There hung a short list with the five key points of Erudite. It had been there forever and I knew it by heart. My eyes glanced over the letters.

_Erudite: The Intelligent_

_We submit the following statements as truth:_

_1. "Ignorance" is defined not as stupidity but as lack of knowledge._

_2. Lack of knowledge inevitably leads to lack of understanding._

_3. Lack of understanding leads to a disconnection among people with differences._

_4. Disconnection among people with differences leads to conflict._

_5. Knowledge is the only logical solution to the problem of conflict._

_Therefore, we propose that in order to eliminate conflict, we must eliminate the disconnection among those with differences by correcting the lack of understanding that arises from ignorance with knowledge._

The rest of the poster went on about the different aspects of knowledge we had to acquire: psychology, sociology, mathematics and so much more. Knowledge was always readily available for members of the factions. Withholding information could lead to imprisonment and I didn't think anyone wished to go to jail.

My eyes averted from the poster as walked over to my closet. I picked up my blue pants and a blue sweater. Every faction had his or her own clothing style. Erudite was known for wearing blue. Blue released a calming, relaxing chemical and a calm mind meant a clear mind. If you saw someone on the streets wearing blue, you could pretty much assume that they were from Erudite.

"Santana, are you up? You have to leave for school in a half an hour!" I heard my mom's voice yelling at me from downstairs.

I pulled the sweater over my head and grabbed my bag. It weighed about ten pounds with all the books I carried to school everyday. I took a ton of AP classes and those books were big. Plus I had to haul around the books that I liked to read during free periods as well.

"Yes, mom," I mumbled.

My mom placed a quick kiss on my forehead as I passed her.

"I made your lunch," Maria Lopez said with a big smile on her face.

She was also wearing a blue vest with a blue shirt underneath. She was a teacher at my school. Luckily she didn't teach me. That would be quite weird. She taught mathematics to twelve years old. There were some ten year olds from Erudite in her class too. The school allowed some students to skip over some years if they were too bored in their current grade level. That only happened to children from our faction of course. Other factions weren't smart enough for that. My mom always told me stories about the Dauntless, and how little they valued their education.

Dauntless was another faction. The Dauntless valued courage and blamed cowardice for the world's problems. I didn't quite agree with them. Everything I heard about this faction seemed awful. They supported violence and brutality which just seemed plain dumb to me. Violence wouldn't solve anything in my opinion. They were also rather arrogant. The Dauntless arrived to school by train. That sounded normal, right? Well, it wasn't. Instead of waiting for the train to stop like every other normal person, they all jumped out while it was still driving. The majority arrived with scratches or bruises gracing their arms caused by a rough fall out of the moving carriage, but they thought it made them look cool. Dauntless was also the only faction that allowed tattoos and they definitely used that privilege. Every single faction member had at least one tattoo, but most had even more.

Both my parents weren't fans of Dauntless either. My mom whined about how rude their students were all the time. My dad was a doctor and said the Dauntless always came in with terrible wounds and bruises. The worst part was they refused to go to the doctor unless it was actually necessary so by the time my dad had to treat them, their injuries were even worse. I was taught Dauntless was a faction to be feared, with their arrogant and violent members that used their fists to solve every conflict instead of opting for a more mature solution. I wasn't very fond of the Dauntless even though I had yet to meet anyone from Dauntless, let alone hold a proper conversation. There were some Dauntless students in my classes but we didn't talk.

Besides Dauntless and Erudite, there were three more other factions. Amity was the colorful faction. They chose peace and that was evident in their choice of clothes. You could see them from afar with their vibrant yellow garments that almost hurt to look at. They were always chanting or singing songs about friendship and peace and more things along those lines. I personally thought they were all crazy with their banjos and flowers decorating their hair. I didn't really like them; I didn't like them at all. They were too happy, too cheery and too annoying all at the once.

Then you had Candor, or the truthful. A member of the faction Candor would never lie. They told the truth about everything. If they didn't like you, they told you. A couple of years ago, a girl I had never seen before came up to me in school and told me that I looked mean and that I should try to smile more because I was already developing wrinkles. Candor didn't believe in politeness because politeness was deception wrapped in a pretty package. I didn't believe in constant truth. Some things weren't meant to be heard, so why should we share them. They were way too obnoxious for my taste.

Finally we came around full circle with Abnegation. Every single thing a member of Abnegation did was for someone else. They never did anything for themselves because selflessness was the value they sought after, and they did everything to reach it. I heard that they couldn't look in the mirror. When faced with their reflection they could think of themselves as pretty and that would mean they were being self-indulgent. The worst thing you could do in Abnegation was commit suicide. If you were truly selfless, you wouldn't desire death for yourself. They were always seen in gray, simple clothes because why should they wear beautiful clothes if they could give them to someone else. I wasn't really a fan of them either. It wasn't that they did anything wrong, but I just didn't like them.

So those were the five factions. But there was still one other group. The factionless. The factionless were the people that had failed their initiation for the faction they chose so they became factionless. They got the lowest jobs, like janitors or bus drivers. Becoming factionless was one of the worst things that could happen to you. It scared the crap out of me. So I better succeeded at my initiation. But first there was the Aptitude Test. Each year, all of the sixteen-year olds from each faction took the test. The purpose was to show which of the five factions each person belonged to. Honestly, I didn't really know that much about the Aptitude Test. My parents kept it a secret so that I couldn't control or prepare for the test. But the test did scare me. What if I belonged to a stupid faction like Amity? I couldn't join the crazy, chanting group of way-too-happy-people? I'd go mad in a day. So yes, I was quite nervous. The test defined you and made your future or in other words, your faction.

After the Aptitude test, you were told the faction you to which you were destined to belong. The next day was the Choosing Ceremony. At the Choosing Ceremony you would have to make the decision of your life. You could choose which faction to join. Either you stayed in your own faction where your parents were, or you left your family and everything you knew behind. Even though they said your Aptitude Test didn't mean anything, it did give a good indication where you fit in the world.

During the Choosing Ceremony, you were called up to the center of the room one by one. There, five large metal bowls were located. Each bowl was filled with a substance that represented a particular faction: gray stone for Abnegation, water for Erudite, earth for Amity, lit coals for Dauntless, and glass for Candor. You weren't allowed to speak. You were offered a knife and asked to cut your own hand and sprinkle your blood over the bowl of the faction you chose. Once you selected a faction, you stood in a group behind your chosen faction for the remainder of the ceremony. That was the moment your life actually began. You had chosen your factions and there was absolutely no going back. If you decided on another faction than your parents, there was a chance you would never see them again.

"Are you ready to leave yet? You're way too slow," my sister sighed.

My sister, Adriana, was almost a year older than me, so we were in the same grade at school. That also meant we would have the same Aptitude Test and the same Choosing Ceremony. But luckily I was fairly certain that Adriana would choose Erudite at the Choosing Ceremony. She read even more than I did, and that was saying something. She was also arrogant but as was I alongside pretty much all of Erudite. We were sort of known for it. Certain stereotypes existed for each of the factions. Abnegation, for example, was known as the faction of the Stiffs. They barely showed any sort of public displays of affection and they hated personal contact. I guess they just weren't used to it. Erudite for their arrogance about their knowledge and Candor for their obnoxiousness and brutal honesty. Dauntless for their addiction to adrenaline and then to finish it all off, Amity for solving every discussion by hugs.

"Yes, I'm ready to leave. How are we going to school?" I asked Adriana. We usually went with the bus or with the car.

"Let's just take the bus, okay?" Adriana said.

She looked a lot like me. She had the same dark brown, long hair and dark skin tone as me. We weren't the same however. We had different interests. I liked to read about chemistry and math and the sciences in general while Adriana preferred to learn as much about literature and poetry as possible. Don't get me wrong, I liked literature but I just wasn't any good at poetry. I liked logical things and poetry just didn't quite fit that. I did like psychology and so did Adriana, so we had some things in common.

We did get along fine, Adriana and I. Since we were in the same grade, we shared the same friends, our faction members of Erudite.

"Have you done your homework?" Adriana asked me as we walked towards the bus.

"Yes, of course," I rolled my eyes. We were from Erudite. We always did our homework, especially if our mom was a teacher at school. She always seemed to know when we got a new assignment before us.

"Good. Just checking."

My sister did try to protect me sometimes. Okay, a lot. Even though we were practically the same age, she still saw me as her little sister and she thought it was necessary for her to act like the older, protective sibling.

As we stepped onto the bus, we immediately spotted people from the different factions. Members of Abnegation were standing upright just in cause someone else wanted to sit. The members of Candor were chatting loudly and acting way too obnoxious. The people from Amity sat in silence, but with a big smile gracing their face. Dauntless took the train and hence were never on our bus. I heard the headquarters of their faction was on the north side of the city and the bus didn't go that far. After a couple of minutes, we arrived at school.

"We're here," Adriana mumbled to me as we got out of the bus. I stepped out onto the ground with my sister.

Even though we shared classes with all the factions, you could easily differentiate between them by the color of their clothes. People from different factions were rarely friends. The different factions just didn't have that much in common with each other and that really didn't help with developing friendships.

The school did try their best to mix the factions in order for us to learn about each of them before making our decision at the Choosing Ceremony, but nobody really mingled. I heard the roaring of the train behind me and spun around on my feet. At exactly 7:25, the Dauntless proved their bravery by jumping out of a moving train. The Dauntless are pierced, tattooed and black-clothed. Their primary purpose is to guard the fence that surrounds our city. From what, I don't know.

The train whistle blared, the sound resonating in my chest. The light fixed to the front of the train flicked on and off as the last few cars passed, a mass exodus of young men and women in dark clothing hurled themselves from the moving cars, some dropping and rolling, others stumbling a few steps before regaining their balance. I didn't know why, but they fascinated me, despite I knowing they shouldn't. The Dauntless were known to be cruel and their initiation was tough, even though I didn't know what actually happened during it.

My eyes followed the teenagers that had just jumped from the train. They automatically shifted to the blonde girl on the right. Brittany Pierce. My heart started beating in my chest and I blamed it on the Dauntless. My eyes followed the blonde girl while she plucked the remains of grass off her black t-shirt. I spotted the dark ink of a tattoo under her sleeve but I couldn't see from here what it was of. I made a mental note to look at it during our math class. She reached into her bag and grabbed a pack of cigarettes. A couple of seconds later a cigarette was dangling between her lips. Another Dauntless faction member next to her held his lighter in front of the cigarette. Brittany gave him a quick wink and inhaled sharply.

"Are you coming?" Adriana asked impatiently.

"Yeah sure." I nodded quickly. For a moment there, I almost forgot that I was totally staring at the blonde and the Dauntless. Watching them was a foolish idea.

"I don't know why you are so fascinated by them, San. The Dauntless are trouble, everyone knows that. You should just stick to your own faction and stay away from Brittany and the troublemakers she calls friends. They are bad news for us." Adriana said annoyed. She hated the Dauntless even more than my parents, but I knew it was because she had always had this huge crush on Noah Puckerman.

Noah Puckerman was another a member of Dauntless and from what I gathered; he was a close friend of Brittany's. He was pretty badass and mouthed off against almost every teacher in school. He got expelled more times than anyone could keep track off. But maybe my sister liked that. I didn't. All that macho-stuff wasn't really my thing.

"Let's just get to class, okay?"

I could see that my sister was now staring at Noah and the cigarette he was holding between his lips.

"Yeah." She sighed and averted her eyes. "Let's go to history class."

I turned away but not before shooting one more glance at Brittany. And even though we were a hundred feet apart, I could swear she had just winked at me. But maybe that was simply my imagination.

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**Please let me know what you thought about the story :) I could really use the feedback on this new story, good or bad. :) Okay thanks! bye :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi :) Thanks for all the lovely reviews/follows from you all. I really appreciate it. Also thanks to my beta Elisabeth simply for being awesome. **

**Sidenote about this chapter: since they don't really use cars in the Dauntless world (only Erudite have cars and they don't use them a lot), Artie isn't in a wheelchair. No cars means no accident so no wheelchair. :) Hope that isn't too confusing. **

**Please let me know what you think through review :) Reviews really do keep me motivated :) **

**Until next time :) **

**ps: if you want a preview of the next chapter, check out my tumblr eatingsushieveryday :) okay enjoy ! **

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Adriana and I walked to our history class. History was in the back building. Our school was pretty big. There were five large buildings. The front building held the main entrance and the reception while the east wing was where all the science classrooms were. It was quite huge but it had to be as we got to conduct a lot of experiments for science. Last week, we generated electricity out of lemons, which was really neat. That was, however, one of the better labs. Usually we did something really boring like calculating the resistance of an object, but each experience taught us something so they were nice opportunities.

In the west wing was everything involving language. When you entered the west wing, you immediately saw the enormous library, and I really mean enormous. Since schools should give you all the information you ever wanted to know, you could find a copy of literally every book in Chicago that existed in the library. You could borrow books and take them home and everything. It was pretty cool. It also helped a lot when you had to write a big essay and you had no idea what it was about. You could just pick out a book and explore a whole new world. Because that was the best part about knowledge, there was always something new to discover and that was absolutely wonderful. The rest of the building was just classrooms where the modern languages were taught.

In the south wing were all the creative classes, like drawing, creative writing, painting and other stuff like that. Honestly, I wasn't really a fan of creative classes; most of them were either really easy or way too hard. I just generally disliked them.

Lastly we had the main building. The main building housed everything that had anything to do with food. The cafeteria was located there as well as some small restaurants, if you could even call them that. For some reason the Amity faction members ran all the restaurants. There was, however, one Candor pizza place but only Candor people ate there and it was always full.

History class usually went on and on about each of the factions' perks and the Purity War. It was a fairly easy class and nobody really struggled with it. As we reached the door of the classroom, we are met with our friends, which were basically the other Erudite members in our history class.

"Hey guys." Adriana said to the small group.

First was Artie Abrams. He was this smart, sweet guy who wouldn't hurt a fly. He wore glasses, which for one reason or another was kind of common in Erudite. I also had glasses, but I only needed them to read the blackboard. I looked like an absolute dork when I wore them, but that was okay. Artie loved to sing and so he sung a lot, which could be quite irritating at times. He would always be humming annoying songs that then got stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

Next was Mike Chang. An Asian guy who knew a lot about math. He didn't say that much, he was kind of shy but very nice. But if you said something dumb about math he would laugh in your face, which wasn't particularly kind, but whatever. Basically everyone from Erudite was stuck up and a know-it-all, myself included. Mike always snickered in the back when one of the Dauntless girls or boys asked a stupid question. It was always the Dauntless that ask the dumb questions, or Candor. Amity didn't ask questions and neither did Abnegation, probably because asking a question was considered selfish.

There also was Tina Cohen-Chang, Mike's girlfriend. She was rude a lot of the time and I wasn't quite sure I liked her all that much. She knew a lot about biology and stuff, I didn't really care. We tolerated each other and that was all, we weren't friends. Both of them were Asian so that made them look even smarter.

The rest of the Erudite group consisted of smart kids who all seem to wear glasses and have constant discussions about science or math or books. Don't get me wrong I loved discussions like that.

Finally we had Quinn Fabray. Her parents were as close to famous as you could get in the Erudite faction. They were renowned scientists and quite rich too. They had this huge house with their own personal library. It had the old smell of the books and it was my absolute favorite place to be. Even though Quinn could be quite malicious a lot of the time, the amazing library she had sure made up for it. Usually after school we would hang out there and read books. I loved it.

One time, when Adriana was sick, Quinn just invited me to her house. It was the first time I was alone with her at her house without Adriana or any of the other guys being there. We had a sleepover and it was actually amazing. We stayed up until four am reading books and exchanging secrets. Okay, we were only eight years old, but it was still amazing. In the years that came Quinn always remained closer to Adriana than me. I'd be lying if I said that it hadn't hurt.

"Hey." Artie replied.

Quinn gave Adriana a hug and me a quick kiss on the cheek. It was blatantly obvious she liked Adriana more. Tina and Mike simply gave us a nod and continued on with their discussion.

"There they are again." Adriana sighed.

I tried to be casual about it, but I was way too obvious when I spun around to stare at them. The moment I looked up at the Dauntless group, my eyes met with Brittany's blue ones. I had to admit, as much as I didn't like the Dauntless, Brittany was absolutely gorgeous. Her long, blonde hair hung in waves around her shoulders. Because she was a part of Dauntless, her body was toned and in shape. My eyes ran down body and I tried not to ogle her too much. Evidently I failed.

Last year, Brittany wore a tank top, which revealed a part of her flat stomach, and I could swear she had abs. Her biceps were amazing as well. I knew it sounded weird that someone's arms could be hot but believe me; you would understand if you saw them.

They travelled in packs, the Dauntless. You would hardly ever find one alone. They kind of reminded me of a pack of wolves. It probably was also because they kind of scared me but intrigued me at the same time.

Brittany kept staring, maintaining eye contact, and I felt so small under her gaze. There was a small smirk on her lips and I hated it. It felt like she had so much power over me and I didn't even know her. We had talked maybe once or twice during class, but I didn't even consider that real conversation. Her eyes were still looking straight into mine but I couldn't hold her stare any longer. I caved in and looked away.

"They think they rule the school." Tina sighed loudly.

"Don't they?" Artie said.

I kind of agreed with Artie. Everyone respected the Dauntless and nobody messed with them. That was basically the definition of ruling the school, right? The Dauntless were even feared amongst teachers. Our math teacher, Ms. Pillsbury, actually ran out crying one time when Puckerman refused to take his test and repeatedly burned it with his lighter. He did get suspended for that, luckily, but Pillsbury was never the same with our class again. She made the tests harder and harder every week and I personally blamed that damn Puckerman.

"No, they don't. It's not because everyone is afraid of them that everyone respects them." Tina sighed again.

Quinn snorted. "You're just jealous, Tina."

Quinn and Tina weren't friends either. They tolerated each other the same way Tina and I did but Quinn never missed a chance to make a sly comment directed at Tina.

"Whatever, Quinn." Tina muttered, not loud enough for Quinn to actually hear. Tina would never admit it, but I could see it in her eyes. She was kind of scared of Quinn and who could blame her? Quinn had this passive aggressive personality and the looks she sent your way could actually physically kill you. Luckily for me, Quinn's glares were usually directed at Tina.

"Class is about to start, let's go in." Artie said, cutting the tension.

We all walked in. Erudite students were always the first ones there and the last ones to leave, just so we could soak up as much knowledge as possible. Dauntless on the other hand were more often late than on time to class and were always the first to exit. I was pretty certain they had the attention span of a goldfish because every couple of seconds they started a new conversation topic. It was quite annoying.

We all sat down in front of the classroom while the rest of the students walked in. Finally the Dauntless students strolled in slowly, groaning loudly. They smelled like cigarettes.

"Good morning, everyone. I hope you're all ready for a fun lesson about history." I could hear let out Puckerman a grunt of discontent from the back of the room.

The rest of the class went by quickly, just like the rest of the day. I had to admit I glanced a couple of times at Brittany but personally I thought I had hid it pretty well. I walked into the bathroom between sixth and seventh period. I always went to the toilets on the second floor behind the chemistry lab. Not a lot of people knew about them because they were reserved for teachers, but not a lot of teachers went there anyway. They were a lot cleaner than the rest of the disgusting bathrooms found at school. You could easily get hundred diseases just by looking at them. So I used those toilets and I had never seen another student there.

I pushed open the door and was suddenly met with those blue eyes I had been thinking about all day. Brittany Pierce. I would never admit out loud that her eyes had been the only things occupying my mind all day, but it was true. Why the hell did she need to be in this bathroom?

Her eyes were checking me out and I felt uncomfortable under her gaze. I played with my glasses I was still wearing from class. I stared at the ground but could still feel her eyes on me. My eyes shifted and stopped at the tight black pants that made her legs look insanely long.

"Hey." Brittany said amused. I looked up at her.

She had the same smirk on her lips as this morning. I hated it and liked it at the same time. I was very indecisive about Brittany.

"Hi." I said, but it came out as a whisper. Why in the world was my voice failing me right now? Fuck. I looked her right in the eye and tried not to avert my stare, but it was really, really hard. The eye contact was intense.

"You are Santana Lopez, right? Adriana's sister?" Brittany asked. She now had a kind smile gracing her face. I hadn't expected that. Some part of me always felt like the Dauntless weren't capable of being nice.

"Yes, do you know my sister?" I asked, not really knowing why I responded with that question in particular, but it was better than simply nodding.

"Well, uhm, no." Brittany shrugged.

"And you're Brittany Pierce right?" I asked, after a short silence.

"Yes, that is completely correct. And about your sister, I know her name because I think she's hot. " Brittany nodded quickly, her big smile still on her face.

My stomach dropped. I tried my best to hide my disappointment but I was pretty sure she could see right through my facade.

"Oh, yeah. She's pretty." I whispered out as the disappointment slipped through. Damn.

"But you're way more beautiful than she is, though. I have to admit, you are my favorite by far." Brittany winked.

I couldn't suppress my smile. Brittany was flirty and cute at the same time. How did she get me so flustered? My face was probably awkwardly blushing. I hope she didn't notice. I wasn't confident enough to compliment her back so instead I coughed uncomfortably and responded.

"Uhm, thanks. By looking at your black clothes, I would assume that you're in Dauntless."

"Yeah, Dauntless and proud of it." Brittany said with a big, goofy smile.

"And looking at your glasses, the fact that you seem to be carrying about a thousand books, and your blue clothes, I would assume that you are an Erudite." Brittany said.

I pushed my glasses farther up my nose than was physically possible. It was this thing I did when I was nervous. I was pretty uneasy now, so I was sure I had done it about a thousand times in the last minute.

"That obvious is it?" I rolled my eyes.

"Well, yeah? But isn't that the point of the factions?" Brittany said.

I looked Brittany back in the eye. "What do you mean?"

Brittany simply shrugged while looking at the floor. "Aren't the clothes and the rules surrounding them made so we can easily spot the difference between factions? Because God forbid if we ever talk to someone outside of our faction." Brittany rolled her eyes.

"Not really a fan of the factions?" I asked curiously. I had never met anyone who was so open about her thoughts, certainly thoughts against the creation of the factions. There were some things you just didn't say aloud and I was pretty sure every thought criticizing the factions was a thought you kept to yourself.

Brittany shrugged again. "They have their advantages, but I'm not quite sure the pros weigh up against the cons."

I always kind of liked the idea of factions. It gave you a purpose, a meaning, and a direction. What was so wrong with that?

"I like the factions. It gives everyone a place in the world. It gives us meaning and purpose and—"

Brittany snorted. "I would expect that answer from an Erudite, yes."

I was offended. "What do you mean by that?"

Brittany let out a quiet laugh. "Nothing, Erudite."

"My name is not Erudite, you do know that, right?"

Brittany shook her head no. "Didn't you just say that the factions give us meaning and purpose and whatever else you were probably going to blurt out. You identify yourself according your faction and that's okay. Some people need that."

I was getting really fed up with Brittany. "Some people?"

Brittany took a step closer to me. We were only a meter apart now. "Yes, people like you."

I felt brave and closed the distance between us even more. She was slightly taller than me so I had to look up to meet her eyes. Whenever I got annoyed, I got angry and Brittany was doing a pretty good job at pushing my buttons.

"What the fuck do you mean by that, people like me?" I glared up at her.

Brittany let out a small laugh. "Do you feel tough now, Santana? Using swear words? Do you really think you have a chance against a Dauntless-born? I wouldn't take your chances."

"I'm tougher than you think." I said angrily.

"Is that true? I wouldn't agree, but hell what do I know? All I know is that I could break your nose before you even register the fact that I punched you."

"Arrogance isn't good for anything, Brittany. You might want to watch your back."

Brittany's eyebrows rose. "Is that a threat?"

I had no idea where I was going with this. Absolutely no idea. Normally I was a lot smarter than threatening a Dauntless but Brittany brought out this bad side of me and I just blurted it out. But there was no going back now. Our faces were only inches apart and I could feel Brittany's breath on my face. I swallowed hard.

"Yes." I mumbled trying to sound as tough as I could, but I knew it came out quite weak.

"Threatened by an Erudite. Interesting." Brittany then placed a quick kiss on my cheek and my mouth fell open.

"This was fun. We should do this again soon, Santana."

And before I registered what had just happened, I heard the bathroom door shut behind me.

I was frozen for a second, not being able to grasp what had just happened mere seconds ago. Somehow I had found myself in a discussion with Brittany Pierce of all people in the bathroom that nobody except me knew about. How had Brittany found out about it anyway? Some teacher told me a couple of years ago because I was her best student.

My brain still felt frozen but some thoughts were getting clearer. I sometimes had a problem controlling my anger but never had I threatened anyone and lost my temper like that. That was stupid. But all my brain could think about right now was Brittany's soft lips against my cheek as I stroked the place Brittany's lips had been just a few seconds ago with my thumb. Brittany had kissed me on the cheek and more importantly, I loved it. Fuck.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi :) Next chapter :) Thanks for all the lovely reviews. Keep them up. I swear I will answer them from this chapter on, I just hadn't had the time. Big thanks to my beta Elisabeth for making a crappy conversation into a decent one. Tough love helps. On the Divergent side of things: the final trailer is out and it looks amazing! March 21st can't come fast enough. **

**Tumblr: eatingsushieveryday for questions and all the rest**

**I hope you enjoy :) **

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I stared at my reflection in the mirror trying to figure out what the hell just happened a few moments ago. It felt like my mind was working ten times slower than usual and I didn't know why. Except that I did know why. It was because of Brittany Pierce. Damn Brittany. My eyes shifted towards the door out of which she had just walked and I let out a deep sigh.

I looked at my watch and realized that I already needed to be in my math class. It started in ten minutes and it was all the way on the other side of the school. I actually took two math classes. One was easy and the other an AP class. You couldn't take the AP class without sitting through the mandatory easy one. It was really simple and borderline boring but that didn't mean I could just skip it.

I walked out of the bathroom and started making my way towards the math classroom. On the way there, I came across a big group of Candor. I despised Candor. Just because they didn't lie, didn't mean they should get away with saying whatever the fuck they wanted. That was something the Candor had trouble understanding and it usually got on my nerves pretty fast.

I heard an obnoxious voice louder than the rest of the annoying Candor group. Rachel Berry. If I had to pick anyone that I could personally expel from school, it would be Rachel Berry.

Her voice was probably the most annoying thing I had ever heard in my entire life and she spoke at an earsplitting volume too. Even if you tried, you could never hide from her or her annoying voice.

Her personality wasn't that much better either. She thought just because she had an opinion she should always express it, every single moment of the day. She also happened to sing a lot. I did have to admit, she wasn't half bad, but that didn't give her an excuse to sing incessantly. She did it everywhere, even in the library and I was sick of it.

We shared a lot of classes and she had trouble keeping up. I liked that.

Don't even get me started on her best friend, Kurt Hummel. He was more feminine than me and he was a guy; that should tell you enough. He cared a lot about fashion and he never missed a day during which he made a sly comment about my clothes. Not that anyone in the factions really cared about clothes at all. I saw him going up to an Abnegation kid and telling him that he should choose a better outfit because he looked ridiculous. The poor guy didn't even know what to answer. He was rude and he never apologized for it. He had clearly never heard about the concept of sugarcoating. Everything that came out of his mouth was the absolutely truth, nothing wrapped around to soften the blow, and that wasn't a compliment at all.

I pushed my way through the big crowd so that I could still reach the math classroom in time for the lesson. With five minute to spare, I arrived and quickly sat down. As an Erudite, you couldn't afford to be late to class, not even if it was an easy class. After I sat down, I saw Brittany and Puck walk in and did everything to avoid her blue eyes. But I could feel her staring at me and I gave my desk a death glare despite it being completely empty.

Adriana sat next to me and leaned over. "Where were you?"

"I had to go to the bathroom." I answered while shrugging my shoulders.

"Yeah, I know that. But it took you a really long time. What did you do in the bathroom?" Adriana asked confused.

"I just talked to someone." I shrugged again and hoped that Adriana would drop the subject.

Adriana stared at me. "Whom were you talking to?"

"Why do you need to know?" I asked annoyed. This interrogation was getting on my nerves.

"Why can't you just tell me? I just thought it was weird that it took you so long, considering you went alone to your secret bathroom whose location you refuse to share with me. All of our friends were with me, and I just can't imagine you talking to someone from another faction." Adriana reasoned.

"Would it be so weird for me to talk to anyone from another faction?" I looked back at her.

"Yes, it actually would, Santana. Nobody hates every other faction like you do. I don't really see why you would all of a sudden become friends with the other factions, especially with the Choosing Ceremony in a couple of months. Chances are you won't see them anymore after when you choose Erudite."

I didn't know why, but it actually kind of stung when Adriana so easily stated that I would choose Erudite. What if I wanted to choose another faction? Wasn't that the whole point of the Choosing Ceremony? Choosing your own path? But it wasn't as simple as that. Choosing another faction than the one in which you were born in was one of the hardest things you could do. You betrayed everything and everyone you once knew. Chances were that from that day on, you would never see your parents, family or friends ever again. Transfers were never mentioned again in the faction they had left behind, they brought shame on their family. I couldn't be one of those but then why had that comment stung?

"Yeah, I guess that's true in a way. I do hate every faction, except our own." I admitted, not really knowing what else there was for me to say.

"That's because all factions kind of suck, except Erudite." Adriana mumbled.

Adriana was one hundred percent certain that she was going to pick Erudite. She wanted to become a doctor and you kind of needed to stay in Erudite in order to do so. She would never leave our parents.

"That's also true." I nodded.

Rachel Berry and Kurt Hummel walked in, arms intertwined. Who did they think they were, a married couple? They were whispering to each other and I was pretty sure they were gossiping about us. It was kind of ironic because Rachel and Kurt thought they ruled the school, but nobody could stand them. I was pretty sure even Candor wouldn't mind it if they transferred.

"Oh, it's those two again. Don't they realize nobody likes them?" Adriana sighed.

That was something my sister and I had in common. We were viciously mean towards other people. I guess we had that from our mom, who judged everyone around her. She inherited it from Abuela, our grandmother. You didn't want to come across Abuela Lopez. She was crazy and that was coming from me, her granddaughter, so you could only imagine how a total stranger perceived her. Everyone in Erudite knew that you didn't fuck around with the Lopez's. She could easily fit into Candor with her calculating comments but back in the day she was a renowned scientist. Nowadays her fame had diminished.

"I'm pretty sure they think we love and adore them, that we would do anything in order to become their friends. But nobody does." I said.

"It would help if Berry could keep her mouth shut for more than two seconds. Maybe I could tolerate her instead of imagining the different ways in which to kill her." Adriana replied.

I snickered. I have imagined attacking Berry, more than once, to finally put an end to her obnoxious chatter. I could totally win a fight against Berry. She didn't stand a chance against me.

I suddenly felt eyes on me, boring into my back. You could actually feel when someone stared at you. I once read a book about it. Back when humans were still hunters, knowing when someone was staring at you could mean the difference between life and death. If there was a lion eyeing you from behind, I could imagine it being quite convenient that you knew it was there. Humans still possessed the same power until this day. That was how I knew someone was watching me.

I tried to ignore it, but I could still feel it. I turned around and blue eyes found mine. I swallowed hard. Brittany was gazing right back at me. She had taken the desk behind me, I hadn't even noticed with my sister and all her intrusive questions. Brittany wore the same smirk she always seemed to be carrying around wherever she went. Why was she staring at me? I felt flushed and I turned back around. I looked at the blackboard, trying to ignore the eyes on my back. Luckily the teacher arrived and the lesson begun.

Halfway through class, I felt a small tap on my shoulder.

"Excuse me?" I heard Brittany's voice.

I turned around slowly, meeting her blue eyes once again. I had forgotten how gorgeous they actually were.

"Yes?" I whispered. It came out a little more aggressive than I had intended. I guess I was still pissed at her for that kiss on my cheek and how she had behaved towards me in the bathroom.

She acted like she had this power over me, and I didn't like that feeling. Brittany had all of this power over me and we only shared two conversations and I hated that.

"Could I borrow a pencil?" Brittany had a sweet smile gracing her face and I totally forgot why the hell I had been mad and aggressive towards her in the first place.

"Uhm, yeah, I guess." I turned around and picked up a pencil from my desk.

"Here you go." I mumbled quietly.

I handed over the pencil and for a short moment, our fingertips grazed over one another. A current ran through our fingers and our eyes locked. I swallowed hard, unable to break the eye contact. Our fingers were only slightly touching but I could feel it. Brittany's smile faltered and her eyes were boring into mine, trying to find answers I couldn't possibly give. I broke the eye contact and turned around again. I could feel Adriana staring at me, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. I hoped she hadn't seen the interaction, but I was sure she had felt the tension as well. Our math teacher, however, was still teaching despite the moment I had just shared with Brittany and I put in all my effort to concentrate on the linear function written on the board.

I could do this. Linear functions were easy, _ax + b_ equals _y_. I tried writing something down in my notebook, but then I realized something. I had given Brittany my only pencil. That was really dumb. Damn. I couldn't possibly ask for it back right away, that would be rude. And that would mean that I would have to physically take the pencil back, which could only result in our fingers touching once again. My heart was still pounding from the last time.

"Are you okay?" Adriana leaned over.

I guess I was still blushing or at least flushed.

I quickly nodded. "I'm fine. I'm just slightly confused about this function actually."

Adriana's eyebrows rose. "Seriously, San? This is really easy. We saw this two years ago in AP math, remember?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, I kind of forgot how to solve it. It's confusing."

"Are you sure that it's the functions you are confused about?" My sister remarked.

I swallowed hard. She had noticed whatever had happened between Brittany and I. How could she not? She was my sister. She knew me better than anyone else, right? Plus there was the fact that she was sitting right next to me, so she probably overheard the conversation as well.

"Whatever Adriana." I said. I always needed to have the final say when it came to arguments.

"Don't get yourself in trouble." My sister finally replied.

Trouble meant the Dauntless. She was warning me about Brittany and she was absolutely right in doing so. The Dauntless meant trouble and so did Brittany.

The rest of math class went by relatively fast. I really didn't have a problem understanding the linear functions. They were simple. The bell rang and I quickly picked up my books and stuffed them into my bag. School was over. Now was the time the afternoon clubs started but since it was Monday I didn't have any activities to attend. Adriana had to tutor some Candor girl who was having trouble with literature.

"I'll see you at dinner tonight. Tell mom I'll be home at six in case she forgets I'm tutoring that girl." Adriana told me.

"Why do you even tutor? I don't understand why you would waste your time on some girl from Candor." I asked confused.

"I don't know. I like to help people and it's literature so that's nice. I get to spend time doing something I love and I like that. Is there really something wrong with that?"

I shrugged. "Fine."

Quinn walked up to us. "Adriana, do you want to come back with me to my house and hang out? Oh, Santana, you can come too." She added when she saw me. Despite her invitation I still felt like hadn't meant to invite me along in the first place.

"I have to tutor that girl." Adriana said.

Quinn pouted. "That's right, I forgot. I guess it's just you and me, Santana." Quinn said. Now that Adriana couldn't come, I was suddenly good enough? I knew I should have more respect for myself and said something about it, but I didn't. I really did like Quinn and wanted to become better friends with her.

"Sounds fun." I admitted.

"Let's go then." Quinn said.

Adriana started walking off in the other direction but not before saying, "Be home by dinner, Santana."

"I will." I replied.

Suddenly I heard a voice behind me. "Erudite."

I immediately recognized Brittany's voice.

I turned to Quinn. "I'll meet you outside, okay?"

Quinn looked confused but then eventually made her way outside.

I turned around facing Brittany. The rest of the class had already left and the corridor was basically empty. I could still hear Quinn's shoes somewhere in the distance but that was it.

"I already told you. That's not my name." I said annoyed. She had called me Erudite again and it was pissing me off.

"I'm really sorry, Santana." She said while emphasizing the Santana bit of the sentence.

I tried really hard not to roll my eyes, but failed.

"You do know that it's quite rude to roll your eyes at someone, right?" Brittany stated, her smirk present once again.

"I didn't roll my eyes." I quickly countered.

Brittany snickered. "You know it's also rude to lie to someone's face. I thought you were an Erudite? Aren't you guys supposed to be the smart people, or did I miss something?"

"I thought you were from Dauntless and not Candor, so why do you care if I'm lying?"

Brittany shrugged. "Now you've got it backwards, Erudite. I already told you that I don't quite believe in the whole faction business. It's not because I'm not in Candor that I enjoy being lied to. Nobody likes liars. If you tell me you do, you're not being honest."

"How can you not believe in the whole faction business?" I asked.

Brittany shrugged again. "It's not because I'm a part of Dauntless that I don't like the truth, or that I think I shouldn't have any knowledge what so ever. The same goes for Amity and Abnegation's values. I don't believe people can be put into boxes that easily."

"Alright. I understand that. And to answer your previous question, yes." I said.

Brittany looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Erudite are the smart people from this city, if that's what you were wondering."

Brittany laughed. "I'm not so sure of that, but that's a story for another time."

"What do you mean?" I probed.

Brittany didn't answer my question, instead she held out the pencil and said, "Anyway, here's your pencil back."

This time I made sure not to touch her in anyway so I carefully grabbed the other end of pencil she was offering.

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about that. Thanks."

Brittany smiled brightly. "No, thank you. I should really bring my own supplies for once."

"It wasn't a problem." It kind of was actually. I couldn't write anything down because of her, but that was okay.

"Okay, I guess you should be going now, shouldn't you? Isn't that Fabray girl waiting on you?" Brittany asked.

"Oh, yeah, right. Thanks." I stammered.

"You're welcome. And I'll see you around Erudite." Brittany smirked.

"Sounds good, Dauntless." I said as we parted ways.

I caught up with Quinn just outside of school where she was waiting for me.

"What took you so long?" She immediately questioned.

I shrugged nonchalantly in an attempt to seem casual about the situation. "That girl from Dauntless borrowed a pencil from me during math, so she gave it back."

"Yeah, if that was the case, why did it take you ten minutes to get here? I would imagine a conversation in which she has to give you back your pencil would take about five seconds." Quinn said.

Why was she so annoying at times? Fuck. "She had a question about math." I stuttered.

That seemed to be a good enough answer for Quinn and she simply nodded in response. On the way to Quinn's house, we made small talk about school, math and how annoying Tina could be. When we arrived at Quinn's massive house, we immediately headed out for the library. Quinn got some cookies and we made ourselves comfortable in the chairs in front of the first bookshelf.

"Do you know what faction you are going to choose at the Choosing Ceremony?" Quinn suddenly asked while we were reading a book.

That question had literally come from nowhere. I always imagined Quinn to stay in Erudite. She really fitted in here, plus her dad was one of the most important people of the faction. It would honestly be a shock if she decided to change factions. And why would she? She belonged here in Erudite, just like I did.

"Uhm, I guess I haven't thought about it. I guess I'll just stay in Erudite. That's the easiest option, right?" I said.

"So the only reason you want to stay in Erudite is because it is easier?" Quinn asked.

"I didn't say that. I fit in here, don't you?" I responded.

She was biting on a pencil. "Yeah I guess. But just because I was born here, doesn't mean I agree with everything that this faction does."

"Yeah, that's true. I just don't see myself in another faction." I said, not really sure if it was actually true.

"That's because all we've ever known is our own faction. That's what's so messed up about this whole thing. We learn about other factions but we will never know what they really are like without actually being a part of them. And what's up with the fact that we have to decide on our whole life when we are sixteen? I don't understand why." Quinn sighed and sounded annoyed.

"I think it's actually nice. You can choose your own destiny. Nobody can decide for you." I said.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "That's really naïve, Santana."

"How is that naïve?" I asked annoyed.

"Don't pretend like it's your choice. Everyone is forcing you to stay in your own damn faction. Nobody allows it. And certainly not the people around you."

"They do allow people to change factions." I tried to dispute but I felt like I had lost this match.

"Damn it, Santana, you don't understand. They allow it but they don't want you to change. We know so little about other factions. We barely know what their initiation is. Heck, I don't even know where the Dauntless live." Quinn ranted.

"And the moment you change factions, Erudite will hate you. You will be shut out by your family. Your pictures will be deleted and everyone will pretend that you never existed. If that's support you get when changing factions then I don't understand the meaning of support anymore." Quinn went on.

"Yeah." I simply said. I didn't really know what to answer. Quinn's voice resonated in my head and I felt more confused than ever. An uncomfortable silence crept up on us. I didn't know what to say and neither did Quinn. And I knew why, Quinn had opened up to me. A girl like Quinn didn't open up to people, and certainly not to me. Quinn held her power by holding her secrets and for a slight moment, she revealed her thoughts.

"Just forget everything I said, please." Quinn quickly said when I caught her eye.

And there it was. Quinn's walls were coming down once again.

"What?" I asked.

"Just please forget it and don't you even dare mention to anyone what I said here. It was stupid. The factions are great and I can't wait to start my life in Erudite." Quinn quickly said while nodding, but her eyes told a totally different story. "Okay, I won't tell anyone."

"Good. My life is here. In Erudite." Quinn repeated once more but every time she said it, it sounded less truthful to me, but I did not dare to say that out loud.

"Are you sure?" I asked once again.

"Yes. Just stop it, Santana." She suddenly screamed angrily. "I think you should leave."

Quinn pointed at the door.

"God, calm down. I'll leave. Geesh."

I opened the door from the library and went home. The conversation between Quinn and I resonated in my head. Quinn wanted to change factions. But which faction and why? It all felt messed up in my head. I felt more confused than ever.

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**Hope you liked it :) Leave a review if you'd like. I promise I will answer them from now on :) Okay bye :) **


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